Bong Revilla seeks Senate review of repatriation efforts for OFWs

Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. on Tuesday said the government repatriation efforts for displaced overseas Filipino workers must be investigated to address loopholes in the process and facilitate their smooth homecoming amid the global pandemic.

“There is a pressing need to accelerate and expedite the repatriation process and maximize all available resources and systems to bring home all the stranded OFWs abroad,” Revilla said.

“The anguish of waiting, the torment of being away from their families, the financial and employment anxieties, the uncertainty of events and of the future, among many other considerations, affect their health not only physically but also mentally and emotionally,” he added.

In Senate Resolution No. 448, he urged both the Senate panels on labor and foreign relations to conduct an inquiry on how to fast-track the repatriation process as he underscored that the Department of Labor and Employment projected the return of 200,000 OFWs from June to August this year.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government, on the other hand, estimated that around 300,000 OFWs will come home to the country until the end of 2020.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that over 50,000 Filipino migrant workers have already been repatriated amid the COVID-19 pandemic. — Dona Magsino/RSJ, GMA News